TY - ICOMM T1 - Surveys Provide Insight Into Three Factors That Encourage Open Data and Science Y1 - 2023 A1 - Joshua Borycz A1 - Alison Specht A1 - Kevin Crowston JF - Social Science Space UR - https://www.socialsciencespace.com/2023/09/surveys-provide-insight-into-three-factors-that-encourage-open-data-and-science/ ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Shifting forms of Engagement: Volunteer Learning in Online Citizen Science JF - Proceedings of the ACM on Human-Computer Interaction Y1 - 2020 A1 - Corey Brian Jackson A1 - Carsten Østerlund A1 - Mahboobeh Harandi A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Laura Trouille AB -

Open collaboration platforms involve people in many tasks, from editing articles to analyzing datasets. To facilitate mastery of these practices, communities offer a number of learning resources, ranging from project-defined FAQs to individually-oriented search tools and communal discussion boards. However, it is not clear which project resources best support participant learning, overall and at different stages of engagement with the project. We draw on Sørensen’s framework of forms of presence to distinguish three forms of engagement with learning resources: authoritative, agent-centered and communal. We analyzed trace data from the GravitySpy citizen-science project using a mixed-effects logistic regression with volunteer performance as an outcome variable. The findings suggest that engagement with authoritative resources (e.g., those constructed by project organizers) facilitates performance initially. However, as tasks become more difficult, volunteers seek and benefit from engagement with their own agent-centered resources and community generated resources. These findings suggest a broader scope for the design of learning resources for online communities.

IS - CSCW ER - TY - Generic T1 - Sharing open deep learning models T2 - Proceedings of the 52nd Hawai'i International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-52) Y1 - 2019 A1 - Ayse Dalgali A1 - Kevin Crowston AB -

We examine how and why trained deep learning (DL) models are shared, and by whom, and why some developers share their models while others do not. Prior research has examined sharing of data and software code, but DL models are a hybrid of the two. The results from a Qualtrics survey administered to GitHub users and academics who publish on DL show that a diverse population shares DL models, from students to computer/data scientists. We find that motivations for sharing include: increasing citation rates; contributing to the collaboration of developing new DL models; encouraging to reuse; establishing a good reputation; receiving feedback to improve the model; and personal enjoyment. Reasons for not sharing include: lack of time; thinking that their models would not be interesting for others; and not having permission for sharing. The study contributes to our understanding of motivations for participating in a novel form of peer-production.

JF - Proceedings of the 52nd Hawai'i International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS-52) UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10125/59650 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Socio-technical affordances for stigmergic coordination implemented in MIDST, a tool for data-science teams JF - Proceedings of the ACM Y1 - 2019 A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Jeffery Saltz A1 - Amira Rezgui A1 - Yatish Hegde A1 - Sangseok You KW - stigmergic coordination; translucency; awareness; data-science teams AB -

We present a conceptual framework for socio-technical affordances for stigmergic coordination, that is, coordination supported by a shared work product. Based on research on free/libre open source software development, we theorize that stigmergic coordination depends on three sets of socio-technical affordances: the visibility and combinability of the work, along with defined genres of work contributions. As a demonstration of the utility of the developed framework, we use it as the basis for the design and implementation of a system, MIDST, that supports these affordances and that we thus expect to support stigmergic coordination. We describe an initial assessment of the impact of the tool on the work of project teams of three to six data-science students that suggests that the tool was useful but also in need of further development. We conclude with plans for future research and an assessment of theory-driven system design.

VL - 3 IS - CSCW ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Stages of motivation for contributing user-generated content: A theory and empirical test JF - International Journal of Human-Computer Studies Y1 - 2018 A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Fagnot, Isabelle AB -

User-generated content (UGC) projects involve large numbers of mostly unpaid contributors collaborating to create content. Motivation for such contributions has been an active area of research. In prior research, motivation for contribution to UGC has been considered a single, static and individual phenomenon. In this paper, we argue that it is instead three separate but interrelated phenomena. Using the theory of helping behaviour as a framework and integrating social movement theory, we propose a stage theory that distinguishes three separate sets (initial, sustained and meta) of motivations for participation in UGC. We test this theory using a data set from a Wikimedia Editor Survey (Wikimedia Foundation, 2011). The results suggest several opportunities for further refinement of the theory but provide support for the main hypothesis, that different stages of contribution have distinct motives. The theory has implications for both researchers and practitioners who manage UGC projects.

PB - Syracuse University CY - Syracuse, NY VL - 109 ER - TY - Generic T1 - Stigmergic coordination in Wikipedia T2 - OpenSym Y1 - 2018 A1 - Amira Rezgui A1 - Kevin Crowston KW - Coordination KW - distributed groups KW - on-line epistemic community KW - Stigmergy KW - Wikipedia AB -

We examine a novel approach to coordination, namely stigmergic coordination, that is, coordination mediated by changes to a shared work product. Stigmergy stands in contrast to the two coordination approaches identified in the existing literature on coordination, explicit coordination, based on direct communication through discussion page or user talk pages, and implicit coordination, based on unspoken expectations and shared mental models of the task to be accomplished. We look for evidence of stigmergic coordination in the context of Wikipedia, as one of the most successful experiments in online collaborative knowledge building. Using a novel approach to identifying edits to the same part of a Wikipedia article, we show that a majority of edits to two example articles are not associated with discussion on the article Talk page, suggesting the possibility of stigmergic coordination. However, some amount of discussion does seem to be related to article quality, suggesting the limits to this approach to coordination.

JF - OpenSym UR - http://www.opensym.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/OpenSym2018_paper_34.pdf ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Stigmergic coordination in FLOSS development teams: Integrating explicit and implicit mechanisms JF - Cognitive Systems Research Y1 - 2016 A1 - Bolici, Francesco A1 - James Howison A1 - Kevin Crowston KW - Coordination KW - Stigmergy VL - 38 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Social Networks and the Success of Market Intermediaries: Evidence from the US Residential Real Estate Industry JF - The Information Society Y1 - 2015 A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Sawyer, Steve A1 - Rolf Wigand AB - We examine the roles of market intermediaries in brokering connections among otherwise disconnected social networks. Market intermediaries are usually thought of as simply bringing together buyers and sellers with whom they have weak ties. However, intermediaries may also connect principals with other professionals who can provide assistance with the transaction. Because they are involved in repeated transactions, market intermediaries generally have strong ties with such professionals. We address the question of which set of relations—weak ties to buyers and sellers or strong ties to other professionals—are more important to the success of market intermediaries, using data from the US residential real estate industry—a setting in which transactions are complex and market intermediaries are common. From a national survey of 525 realtors, we find that strong tie relations are more important than weak ties as predictor of the market intermediary’s income, counter to the general wisdom about real estate in particular and market intermediaries more generally. This finding suggests that market intermediaries may become more successful by developing strong relations with other related professionals. The strong-tie arrangements among professional market intermediaries may behave like ‘quasi-firms’ that help buyers and sellers navigate complex market transactions. VL - 31 IS - 5 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Surveying the citizen science landscape JF - First Monday Y1 - 2015 A1 - Wiggins, Andrea A1 - Kevin Crowston AB -

Citizen science has seen enormous growth in recent years, in part due to the influence of the Internet, and a corresponding growth in interest. However, the few stand-out examples that have received attention from media and researchers are not representative of the diversity of the field as a whole, and therefore may not be the best models for those seeking to study or start a citizen science project. In this work, we present the results of a survey of citizen science project leaders, identifying sub-groups of project types according to a variety of features related to project design and management, including funding sources, goals, participant activities, data quality processes, and social interaction. These combined features highlight the diversity of citizen science, providing an overview of the breadth of the phenomenon and laying a foundation for comparison between citizen science projects and to other online communities.

VL - 26 UR - https://journals.uic.edu/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/5520 IS - 1 ER - TY - CONF T1 - Semi-Automatic Content Analysis of Qualitative Data T2 - iConference Y1 - 2014 A1 - Jasy Liew Suet Yan A1 - McCracken, Nancy A1 - Kevin Crowston JF - iConference CY - Berlin, Germany ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Sustainability of Open Collaborative Communities: Analyzing Recruitment Efficiency JF - Technology Innovation Management Review Y1 - 2013 A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Nicolas Jullien A1 - Felipe Ortega AB - Extensive research has been conducted over the past years to improve our understanding of sustainability conditions for large-scale collaborative projects, especially from an economic and governance perspective. However, the influence of recruitment and retention of participants in these projects has received comparatively less attention from researchers. Nevertheless, these concerns are significant for practitioners, especially regarding the apparently decreasing ability of the main open online projects to attract and retain new contributors. A possible explanation for this decrease is that those projects have simply reached a mature state of development. Marwell and Oliver (1993) and Oliver, Marwell, and Teixeira (1985) note that, at the initial stage in collective projects, participants are few and efforts are costly; in the diffusion phase, the number of participants grows, as their efforts are rewarding; and in the mature phase, some inefficiency may appear as the number of contributors is greater than required for the work. In this article, we examine this possibility. We use original data from 36 Wikipedias in different languages to compare their efficiency in recruiting participants. We chose Wikipedia because the different language projects are at different states of development, but are quite comparable on the other aspects, providing a test of the impact of development on efficiency. Results confirm that most of the largest Wikipedias seem to be characterized by a reduced return to scale. As a result, we can draw interesting conclusions that can be useful for practitioners, facilitators, and managers of collaborative projects in order to identify key factors potentially influencing the adequate development of their communities over the medium-to-long term. PB - Talent First Network CY - Ottawa UR - http://timreview.ca/article/646 ER - TY - ABST T1 - SoCS: Socially intelligent computing to support citizen science Y1 - 2010 A1 - Kevin Crowston JF - Proposal submitted to the NSF SOCS program ER - TY - Generic T1 - Shared mental models among open source software developers T2 - Proceedings of the 41st Hawai'i International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) Y1 - 2008 A1 - Scozzi, Barbara A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Eseryel, U. Yeliz A1 - Li, Qing AB - Shared understandings are important for software development as they guide to effective individual contributions to, and coordination of, the software development process. In this paper, we present the results of a preliminary analysis on shared mental models within Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) development teams. Based on structuration theory and by adopting cognitive mapping and process analysis, we represented and com-pared the mental models of some developers of the Lucene Java project. Our analysis suggests that there is a high-level of sharing among core developers but the shar-ing is not complete, with some differences related to ten-ure in the project. JF - Proceedings of the 41st Hawai'i International Conference on System Sciences (HICSS) CY - Big Island, Hawai'i, 7-10 January ER - TY - Generic T1 - Social dynamics of FLOSS team communication across channels T2 - Proceedings of the IFIP 2.13 Working Conference on Open Source Software (OSS) Y1 - 2008 A1 - Wiggins, Andrea A1 - James Howison A1 - Kevin Crowston KW - FLOSS AB - This paper extends prior investigation into the social dynamics of free and open source (FLOSS) teams by examining the methodological questions arising from research using social network analysis on open source projects. We evaluate the validity of data sampling by examining dynamics of communication centralization, which vary across multiple communication channels. We also introduce a method for intensity-based smoothing in dynamic social network analysis. JF - Proceedings of the IFIP 2.13 Working Conference on Open Source Software (OSS) PB - Springer Boston CY - Milan, Italy, 7-10 September SN - 978-0-387-09683-4 ER - TY - JOUR T1 - Self-organization of teams in free/libre open source software development JF - Information and Software Technology Journal: Special issue on Understanding the Social Side of Software Engineering, Qualitative Software Engineering Research Y1 - 2007 A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Kangning Wei A1 - Li, Qing A1 - Eseryel, U. Yeliz A1 - James Howison AB - This paper provides empirical evidence about how free/libre open source software development teams self-organize their work, specifically, how tasks are assigned to project team members. Following a case study methodology, we examined developer interaction data from three active and successful FLOSS projects using qualitative research methods, specifically inductive content analysis, to identify the task-assignment mechanisms used by the participants. We found that ‘self-assignment’ was the most common mechanism across three FLOSS projects. This mechanism is consistent with expectations for distributed and largely volunteer teams. We conclude by discussing whether these emergent practices can be usefully transferred to mainstream practice and indicating directions for future research. VL - 49 IS - 6 ER - TY - Generic T1 - A structurational perspective on leadership in virtual teams T2 - Proceedings of the IFIP Working Group 8.2/9.5 Working Conference on Virtuality and Virtualization Y1 - 2007 A1 - Heckman, Robert A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Misiolek, Nora ED - Kevin Crowston ED - Seiber, Sandra KW - FLOSS KW - Leadership AB - Building on behavioural leadership theory and structuration theory, we present a two-order theory of leadership. It describes four classes of first-order leadership behaviours (task coordination, substantive task contribution, group maintenance and boundary spanning) and defines second-order leadership as behaviour that influences changes in the structure that guides group action. We argue that second-order leadership is enabled by first-order leadership and is therefore action embedded and grounded in processes that define the social identity of the group. We propose that effective virtual teams will exhibit a paradoxical combination of shared, distributed first-order leadership complemented by strong, concentrated, and centralized second-order leadership. We conclude by suggesting future research that might be conducted to test and further elaborate our theory. JF - Proceedings of the IFIP Working Group 8.2/9.5 Working Conference on Virtuality and Virtualization PB - Springer CY - Portland, OR ER - TY - Generic T1 - Social dynamics of free and open source team communications T2 - Proceedings of the IFIP Second International Conference on Open Source Systems Y1 - 2006 A1 - James Howison A1 - Inoue, Keisuke A1 - Kevin Crowston KW - FLOSS AB - This paper furthers inquiry into the social structure of free and open source software (FLOSS) teams by undertaking social network analysis across time. Contrary to expectations, we confirmed earlier findings of a wide distribution of centralizations even when examining the networks over time. The paper also provides empirical evidence that while change at the center of FLOSS projects is relatively uncommon, participation across the project communities is highly skewed, with many participants appearing for only one period. Surprisingly, large project teams are not more likely to undergo change at their centers. JF - Proceedings of the IFIP Second International Conference on Open Source Systems CY - Lake Como, Italy, 8-9 June ER - TY - Generic T1 - SE, IS & (FL)OSS @ EASE Y1 - 2005 A1 - Kevin Crowston KW - FLOSS N1 - A keynote address at the Conference on Empirical Assessment of Software Engineering at Keele University, 11-13 April 2005. ER - TY - JOUR T1 - The social structure of Free and Open Source Software development JF - First Monday Y1 - 2005 A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - James Howison KW - FLOSS AB - Metaphors, such as the Cathedral and Bazaar, used to describe the organization of FLOSS projects typically place them in sharp contrast to proprietary development by emphasizing FLOSS’s distinctive social and communications structures. But what do we really know about the communication patterns of FLOSS projects? How generalizable are the projects that have been studied? Is there consistency across FLOSS projects? Questioning the assumption of distinctiveness is important because practitioner–advocates from within the FLOSS community rely on features of social structure to describe and account for some of the advantages of FLOSS production. To address this question, we examined 120 project teams from SourceForge, representing a wide range of FLOSS project types, for their communications centralization as revealed in the interactions in the bug tracking system. We found that FLOSS development teams vary widely in their communications centralization, from projects completely centered on one developer to projects that are highly decentralized and exhibit a distributed pattern of conversation between developers and active users. We suggest, therefore, that it is wrong to assume that FLOSS projects are distinguished by a particular social structure merely because they are FLOSS. Our findings suggest that FLOSS projects might have to work hard to achieve the expected development advantages which have been assumed to flow from "going open." In addition, the variation in communications structure across projects means that communications centralization is useful for comparisons between FLOSS teams. We found that larger FLOSS teams tend to have more decentralized communication patterns, a finding that suggests interesting avenues for further research examining, for example, the relationship between communications structure and code modularity. VL - 10 UR - http://firstmonday.org/htbin/cgiwrap/bin/ojs/index.php/fm/article/view/1207/1127 N1 - First Monday, Special Issue #2: Open Source — 3 October 2005 The social structure of free and open source software development (originally published in Volume 10, Number 2, February 2005) ER - TY - Generic T1 - A structurational perspective on leadership in Free/Libre Open Source Software teams T2 - Proceedings of the 1st Conference on Open Source Systems (OSS) Y1 - 2005 A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Heckman, Robert A1 - Annabi, Hala A1 - Masango, Chengetai KW - FLOSS KW - Leadership AB - In this conceptual paper, we present a structuration-based theory of leadership behaviours in self-organizing virtual distributed teams such as Free/Libre Open Source Software development teams. Such teams are often composed of members of relatively equal status or who are so disparate in background that formal organizational status seems irrelevant, reducing the usual leadership cues provided by organizational status and title. Building on a functional view of leadership and structuration theory, we suggest that leaders are individuals who develop team structures that then guide the actions of team members. Specifically, we examine structures of signification in the form of shared mental models, structures of domination in the form of role structures and structures of legitimation in form of rules and norms. The main contribution of our paper is the integration of various social theories to describe emergent leadership behaviours in distributed teams. We develop a set of propositions and illustrate with examples taken from Free/Libre Open Source Software development teams. We conclude by suggesting future research that might be conducted to test and further elaborate our theory. JF - Proceedings of the 1st Conference on Open Source Systems (OSS) CY - Genova, Italy ER - TY - Generic T1 - A structurational model of leadership in virtual distributed groups Y1 - 2004 A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Annabi, Hala A1 - Heckman, Robert KW - FLOSS N1 - "A structurational model of the dynamics of Free/Libre Open Source Software development teams". Presentation at the IFIP WG 8.2 OASIS Workshop 2004, Washington, DC, 12 December 2004. (Powerpoint file). ER - TY - JOUR T1 - The social embeddedness of transactions: Evidence from the residential real estate industry JF - The Information Society Y1 - 2003 A1 - Sawyer, Steve A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - Rolf Wigand A1 - Allbritton, Marcel KW - Computer-Mediated Communication KW - Coordination KW - Real Estate AB - Information and communications technologies (ICT) are becoming pervasive in the residential real-estate industry and their usage is affecting the work lives of real-estate agents. Drawing on data from a regional study of the residential real-estate industry in the United States, we focus on the disintermediation or, more accurately, the reintermediation of real-estate agents in the sales process. Using data collected from interviews, direct observation, and archival records, we examine how real-estate agents are (1) taking advantage of new ICT in their work, and (2) protecting themselves from others wishing to displace their position in the real-estate value chain. Our analysis of this activity draws on two contrasting theoretical perspectives to illuminate the roles of residential real-estate agents: transaction cost and social capital. The results of this study provide insights into the ways in which ICT are used to build and draw on the social relationships that underpin the actual transactions, to help guide the process of buying/selling a house, and to invoke expertise as needed. VL - 19 IS - 2 ER - TY - CONF T1 - The social structure of Open Source Software development teams T2 - The IFIP 8.2 Working Group on Information Systems in Organizations Organizations and Society in Information Systems (OASIS) Workshop Y1 - 2003 A1 - Kevin Crowston A1 - James Howison KW - FLOSS AB - Open Source Software development teams provide an interesting and convenient setting for studying distributed work. We begin by answering perhaps the most basic question: what is the social structure of these teams? Based on a social network analysis of interactions represented in 62,110 bug reports from 122 large and active projects, we find that some OSS teams are highly centralized, but contrary to expectation, others are not. Furthermore, we find that the level of centralization is negatively correlated with project size, suggesting that larger projects become more modular. The paper makes a further methodological contribution by identifying appropriate analysis approaches for interaction data. We conclude by sketching directions for future research. JF - The IFIP 8.2 Working Group on Information Systems in Organizations Organizations and Society in Information Systems (OASIS) Workshop CY - Seattle, WA ER -